The Winter Dick Shot the Bobcat

Often animals are where we don't want them. I really like mice but do not want them running unrestrained in the house. Neither do I want cows in the vegetable garden or goats in the rose bushes, and it is very annoying when rabbits eat your tulips before they can do their big spring show. In the last couple of months we have had a young bobcat move underneath one of our  sheds in the yard. The yard bears testimony to his journey, with crimson snow marking the dispatch of an unfortunate animal. I was surprised by the bobcat's diminutive size and pet cat like appearance, which contrasted sharply with the one that I grew up with. I spent years living with a very large bobcat that had been stuffed into a ferocious stance and held court in my grandparent's living room in the place of honor in front of the fire place.

'

The bobcat forever immortalized as ferocious.

Caroline Miege, circa 1968.

It was a neighbour, Dick Elgood, that lived at the bottom of the "big hill", who killed the bobcat. He was my mother's close friend and as he was elderby and frail she would often run errands for him in town. She would, at times, take him into town with us and as a way of giving thanks he would treat us for lunch at the Motor Hotel. We were not a family that ate out very often thus it was very much appreciated.

It was winter when Dick shot the bobcat, and unlike when he became stuffed, the animal was in very poor condition, most likely starving. Dick believed that it was in desperation that the animal came to his house and pawed at the window, most likely as he wanted to get Dick's cat that was in the house .

Winter 1968, Dick Elgood explaining how he shot the bobcat.


I have always struggled with the interplay between the wildlife's territory and our desire to protect ourselves and our domestic animals. I am not interested in supplying the bobcat with an endless supply of cats and dogs but also feel that I have no more right to the shed than he does. I hope he will lose interest in his cozy quarters with dinner outside his door and venture back deep into the forest. In the meantime the cat stays in the house and the dog is guarded when outside.

Caroline Miege, Eddy Miege, the Bobcat and Renee Naef.